it is great to see the viewership count on the website...more than a crore eyes have had a look.
Ravish Shridhar

Contact-suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com> & <mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com>

TOP CORPORATE POWER CENTRES OF INDIA

1. Mukesh Ambani: For the record Mukesh is worth over 27 Billion Dollars as per Forbes list and may be the richest man in the World by 2014. Mukesh's man Friday in Delhi Bala Subramaniam takes care of the networking. He has unhindered access to all power centres in Delhi be it Congress party's Pranab Mukherjee or Motilal Vora, BJP's L.K.Advani or Nitin Gadkari, Communist party's Sitaram Yachuri or D. Raja, RJD's Laloo Yadav or other smaller parties. His target - a Bharat Ratna for Dhirubhai Ambani and 100 percent allegiance of all bureaucrats and politicians in the country. Feverishly working on Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi. Ever since row over Ms. Neera Radia surfaced the RIL's prestige has been adversely hit. Anil Ambani and his team is as usual active in the corridors of power.

2. Shashi and Ravi Ruia : They are number four in Forbes list with assets of 15 billion dollars, but maintain an extremely low profile. The government is said to have supported them in the attempt to restructure their group in recent years and they enjoy the most unhindered access to all political parties. The fact that they have no political ambition has stood them in good light with all political parties. Their man in Delhi is Sunil Bajaj, who enjoys an easy access to all political bigwigs and bureaucratic strongholds. They only travel to Delhi when work calls for their presence and their coming and going go unnoticed as they travel unobtrusively with the minimum noise. Of late, the Group's networking too has acquired a higher crescendo, what with all the expansion plans, and acquisitions in foreign countries.

3. Gautam Adani : Forbes has put him at number 7 with more than 10 billion dollars in kitty. This is the fastest growing group in the country,s Corporate world. People say he is the Dhiru Bhai Ambani in the making. His political connections are fantastic. His claim to fame is having been caught on the wrong side of the law than any other business man in the country but sails ahead with his enviable political connections with LK Advani, Narendra Modi and Ahmed Patel. His key aide Puneet Sharan looks after his good PR work in Delhi.

4. Ratan Tata : For the record Forbes does not have him on their list. Is he a billionaire? No. Ratan Tata is not a Billionaire. Of course he is the chairman of Tata Group having 96 Businesses out of which 28 are publicly listed and are worth more than 70 billion dollars. But still Ratan Tata is not a Billionaire. Well, because to become a billionaire, on your financial statement, your assets must be worth Billions of dollars. Of course Ratan TATA is running a TATA Group Empire. But the main bulk of the shares of its 96 Businesses is not on Ratan TATA's Financial Statement but it is not the Financial Statement of TATA Group's Key holding Company TATA Sons. And the 65% ownership of TATA Sons is not of Ratan TATA's but it is held by various TATA group caritable organizations out of which Sir Ratan TATA Trust & Sir J R D Tata Trust are the main holders of the TATA Sons. And 18% of the ownership of TATA Sons is of Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry who maintains low profile and is known as "Phantom of Bombay House". Ratan TATA himself holds less than 1% of TATA Sons, the key holding Company of TATA Group. This is the reason why Ratan TATA is not a billionaire. Ratan Tata given his respect among common man should have been number one in this list but his public spat with Mamata Banerjee over Nano (He wanted to name his car Mamta) and then moving NANO to Modi's Gujarat had marred his chances of being awarded Bharat Ratna until Congress is in the power. His personal office general manager who happens to be son of a senior lady journalist in Delhi is RNT's networking man. Ever since row over Ms. Neera Radia surfaced the TATA group's prestige has been adversely hit.

5. Lakshmi Mittal : Forbes put him at number two with 26.1 billion dollars. His journey to become one of the richest man in the world, has been very controversial from his association with former Indonesian President Suharto to British Prime Minister Tony Blair who all helped him in his business ventures. In India his association started with for Union Minister NKP Salve and this helped him move closer to power centres in India. He enjoys personal rapport with Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh and Congress Political Secretary Ahmed

Patel and enjoyed equally closed relationship with former Prime Minister Vajpayee's family.

6. Sunil Mittal : With 8.6 billion dollars he is number 9 in the Forbes list. Son of a father who was MP from Ludhiana of the Congress Party, started business with manufacturing cycle parts at the age of 18. He is a risk taker and known to have best networking with political masters in Delhi. His office door (conference room) near Qutub Minar says it all SULTANAT. His aim is to be Emperor of telecom world .

7. K.P. Singh : Forbes pitches him ahead of Mittal at number 8 with 9.2 Billion Dollar fortune. His chance meeting on the road with Rajiv Gandhi turned him from a small time builder of south Delhi to the biggest builder in India. His controversial tie up with Dubai World company Emaar has tarnished his image and probably made him loose some billions. He is regarded as the Ambassador of Good times by the political glitterati in Delhi. He is said to be richest person in the national capital.

8. VN Dhoot : Videocon Industries limited being headed by its Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) Venugopal N Dhoot is the flagship company of USD 5 Billion Videocon Group having diversified business interests in white and brown goods, power generation (both conventional and renewable energy) Exploration and Prospecting Oil and Gas, Providing GSM Mobile Telephone Services , Last mile retail, and Direct to Home Delivery of Television Contents. Its activities are well spread out in India, China, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and Mozambique, with employee strength of more than 15,000. Venugopal N Dhoot, a second-generation entrepreneur and an engineer by training, transformed Videocon from a conference room-sized assembly line in 1979 into a conglomerate across the verticals of consumer electronics and home appliances, office automation, telecom, power, crude oil and natural gas. Dhoot is an avid cricket fan and accomplished flautist. The Videocon School of Cricket launched in Kolkata under the guidance of former Indian cricket captain, Sourav Ganguly, trains and promotes young cricketers of India. Videocon's major breakthrough came when it received one of the first licenses to manufacture color televisions in India in the early 1980's. The company has now become the largest manufacturer of color picture tubes and CPT glasses in the world, with operations across Mexico, Italy, Poland, China and India. Armed with an uncanny foresight and a global outlook, Dhoot has successfully acquired the

color picture tube operations of the Thomson Group and the Indian operations of AB Electrolux, Sweden thereby enhancing its capabilities in both India and overseas. He has led Videocon to foray into exploration and production of Oil business in India and participated in a JV in the Ravva Oil Fields and recently acquired Brazil's Encana Brazil Petroleo Limitada jointly with BPCL. Dhoot has a vision to led Videocon and make it a Fortune 500 company in the next five years.

Videocon launched its mobile services on a pan-India basis in 2010, it intends to target large subscribers in the next four years. Videocon's strategy is to strengthen its focus in oil and natural gas, and is currently pursuing opportunities in Oman, Australia and Timor Sea near Indonesia. Dhoot is an environmental enthusiast having successfully completed a project of planting 2,00,000 teak saplings across India. He is multi-lingual in the true sense of the term and speaks Hindi, English and Marathi fluently.With his passion to make a powerful social impact, Dhoot has established a 250-bed multi-specialty hospital and research institute, specializing in cancer and heart surgery, in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, for the underprivileged people.

9. Subrata Roy : Chairman of the Sahara Group having India's biggest - land bank, NBFC, Media & Entertainment Company, Service & product company, exclusive Aamby Valley City along with Major housing & commercial building projects including Malls, Premium Apartments, Hotels and Hospitals, Life Insurance Company, Mutual Fund House, Housing Finance Co., Consumer products & Retail Chain, Integrated travel & tourism services. Chief Guardian of world's largest family, providing livelihood to millions, directly touching the life of one out of every fifteen Indian, believing in collective sharing & caring for collective growth, proved over decades through CSR projects and activities carried out all over India and particularly in UP & Bihar, one of world's poorest regions, up to the assistance to families of Martyr's of Kargil war and 26/11 Mumbai attack. Biggest supporter of Sports, being a character builder of nation, more than 60 % medal winning Indian athletes in CWG 2010 sponsored by Sahara India Pariwar. Extended critical support which made the event wonderful for India. Exploring overseas value adding acquisitions like England's legendry soccer club Liverpool, one the oldest Hollywood Studios MGM, iconic London Hotel Grosvenor House. A visionary par excellence, one of the all time great entrepreneur, dedicated to nation building.

10. Kumar Mangalam Birla : Kumar Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of the US$ 29 billion Aditya Birla Group, a global conglomerate with operations spanning 27 countries. An iconic figure, Birla holds several key positions on various regulatory and professional boards. He is a Director of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India and Chairman of the Staff Sub-Committee of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India. He serves on the Prime Minister of India's Advisory Council on Trade and Industry. A chartered accountant, Birla earned an MBA from London Business School, where he is also an Honorary Fellow. Birla and his wife, Mrs. Neerja Birla, have three children, Ananyashree, Aryaman Vikram and Advaitesha.

Birla group has, however, not changed like other business groups. They still believe in old business method. They feel problems in expanding further business. Now they are only trying to consolidate their present business establishments. They do not want to walk on the waves of the time.

11. Anil Agrawal : Anil Agrawal heads the powerful Vedanta Group. He has an ambition to become the richest businessman in India. The day it came in media that Agrawal is going to be the number one businessman in India, his rivals

succeeded in his efforts to expand his base in Orissa. He is said to have a direct access in the Ten Janpath.

12. G.M. Rao : GMR Group Chairman G M Rao, a mechanical engineer, is the founder Chairman of GMR Group - global Infrastructure major. The Group is well diversified and professionally managed with focus on business verticals of Airports, Energy, Highways and Urban Infrastructure including SEZs, apart from interests in Agri-business. Born on July 14, 1950 in a small town of Rajam in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, Rao established the GMR business empire starting from a single jute mill in Rajam in 1978. Rao expanded the group's presence in the infrastructure sector by leading the group's foray into Highways. The group bagged its first global project by winning the bid to modernise the Sabiha Gokcen International (SGA) airport at Istanbul, Turkey and also ventured into the new business sector of Urban Infrastructure. The group will set up a 3300 acre multi-product SEZ in Krishnagiri District of Tamil Nadu. It is marching ahead on lines of the Adani group.

The Group has already completed two Greenfield road projects and four more projects are nearing completion. Realising that Airports will drive the economy in the 21st century, G M Rao spearheaded the Group's entry into the high profile airport business. Under his leadership the Group has developed the new Greenfield International Airport at Hyderabad, and is modernising and restructuring the Delhi International Airport. The first phase of Delhi Airport will be commissioned by 2010 in time for the Commonwealth Games.

Besides infrastructure, the other focus area for the GMR Group is Agri-business. The Group already has a sugar plant in Andhra Pradesh and is coming up with more in the state and in Karnataka. The existing plant provides livelihood for over 25000 farmers from 500 villages of the region in one form or the other.

With a strong desire to serve the needs of the marginalised sections and the rural society, Rao set up the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, to raise their living standards. The Foundation is active in the areas of education, health and hygiene, community development and empowerment.

13. Gopichand Hinduja : Gopichand Hinduja is worth billions of dollars, but he still shares a kitchen with his three brothers. He co-chairs the Indian multinational corporation Hinduja Group with his eldest brother Srichand. Srichand, 75, and Gopichand, 70, are based in the exclusive district of Mayfair

in London. The third brother, Prakash, 65, is in Geneva, while the fourth, and the youngest, Ashok, 60, remains in Mumbai. In each country, there is a house with a joint kitchen for all four of the brothers and their families to use. They are estimated to be worth a total of about US$9.5 billion (Dh34.89bn), according to The Sunday Times 2008 Rich List. At one stage they had fast emerged as a force to reckon with in the corridors of power, but now seem to have preferred lying low.

BUREAUCRACY

25 IPS officers of 1979 batch empanelled in GoI
As many as 25 IPS officers belonging to 1979 batch have been empanelled to the rank of ADG in the Government of India. They are Mssrs:- Shankar Barua (AM) , Neelmani (BH) , K. Ramanujam (TN), Krishna Choudhary (BH),Ashok Prasad (AP), Suresh Chowdhary (RJ), Anil Kumar Sinha (BH), A.M. Patnaik (MH), Raj Deep Singh (UP), K P Prabhakara Rao (WB), Dineshwar Sharma (KL), Satyendra Kumar (HY), Rajinder Kumar (MT), R C Arora (MP), Arun Chandra Verma (BH), R N Behura (MT), Divya Prakash Sinha (MT), Ms. Aruna M. Bahuguna (AP) , Jogesh Chandra Chattopadhyay (WB), B. Prasada Rao (AP), Alok Kumar Verma (AGMU), Devendra Kumar Pathak (AM), Sharad Kumar (HY), P J P Hanaman (AM) and Kelhousithie Kire (NL).

New guidelines for banks yet to be finalised
New guidelines for selection of senior bankers for filling up slots of Chairman and Managing Directors (CMDs) & Executive Directors (EDs) are yet to be finalized.

Dr Behera to move Melbourne
Dr S K Behera, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, will succeed Anita Nayar as CG in Melbourne.

Govind Mohan on 6 months extension joins in Cabinet secretariat
Govind Mohan who was hitherto Joint Secretary (DEA), Ministry of Finance in Government of India (GoI) has been given six months extension and has joined in the Cabinet secretariat. He is an IAS officer of the 1989 batch who belongs to the Sikkim cadre.

Posts of IG & DIG in NTRO to be advertised
The central government's Ministry of Home is shortly going to advertise for filling up a vacancy each of IG and DIG in NTRO.

Vinay Kumar to be promoted
Vinay Kumar Deputy Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB), SIB, Bangalore is likely to be promoted as Joint Director, IB. He is an IPS officer of the 1990 batch who belongs to the Uttarkhand cadre.

Srinivasan nominated to National Security Advisory Board
T P Srinivasan has been nominated to National Security Advisory Board, reconstituted by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

Work re-allocated in IB
The work which was being looked after by Nehchal Sandhu before taking
over the charge of Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been divided
in two parts.

DPC for promotion in IB to be held
DPC for the promotion of Assistant Director and Deputy Director, Intelligence Bureau(IB)officers of hard core cadre in IB will be held on January 12,.2011.

IA&AS officer Dhiren Mathur posted in Mumbai
IA&AS officer Dhiren Mathur, Accountant General (CA), Gujarat, Rajkot, has been transferred and posted as Accountant General (LBA&A), Maharashtra, Mumbai against a newly created post.

Ravi Khandelwal poised to be Director (Finance), ITI
Ravi Khandelwal who is Executive Director (A/cs &CS) with CONCOR is poised to be new Director (Finance) with ITI.
(We said this in early December 2010).

Who will be new Home Secretary Delhi?
A race has begun for the post of Home Secretary Delhi. Presently, Arvind Ray AGMUT cadre IAS of 1984 batch who is Secretary Services, Administrative Reforms & GAD is holding additional charge of Home Secretary Delhi.

Interviews for Director Finance (DF) of POWERGRID to be held
Interviews for the post of Director Finance (DF) in POWERGRID are scheduled to be held on January 13, 2011.

Sawant is new CVO Goa Shipyard
P A Sawant is new CVO of the Goa Shipyard. He is 1988 batch Indian Cost Accounts Service officer.
Saikia joins as Director in GoI

L Saikia has joined as Director Child and Women Welfare in the Government of India. Saikia is 1994 batch IRTS officer.

4 SPS officers of Rajasthan nominated for U.N. SAT
As many as four state police service (SPS) officers of Rajasthan of Additional S.P. rank have been nominated for the U.N. SAT for the year 2010-11. They are: Martui Joshi, Sandeep Singh, Rajesh Singh and Sankar Dutt Sharma.

Will V.D. Ram be DGP of Jharkhand ?
V.D. Ram is the seniormost serving police officer in Jharkhand presently. Already on the rank of Director General of Police, he is an IPS officer of the 1973 batch who hails from the Jharkhand cadre. However the two negatives that go against Ram is that an inquiry is pending against him and secondly he is scheduled to retire in July 2011.

Pakistan Railways worst crisis
In spite of a bailout package of Rs 11.1 billion approved by Pakistan's federal cabinet recently the Pakistan railways (PR) are in the midst of worst crisis ever. A cheque of Rs 700 million issued by the Railways to Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has bounced and the PSO has denied further supplies of oil. As a result the movement of freight trains has come to complete stand still. Some 30 freight trains with 4085 fully loaded wagons are stranded in the yards of major railway stations at Karachi, Sukkur, Khannewal, Multan, and Lahore. 'We have no funds to pay to the PSO for High Speed diesel and TBN 13 to move these trains and not a single penny has come to the Railways so far out of the bailout package so far' said the PRO of the commercial branch of Pakistan railways Hqs.

Transfer of Rly official Mrs. Garg cancelled
Transfer of Mrs. Aparna Garg of SAG/IRAS from SWR to RSC, has been cancelled. She would now be retained at Bangalore itself.

Six PCS inducted into IAS in Punjab
Six PCS officers have been elevated to the IAS in Punjab.

IAS changes in AP
N. Siva Sankar has been appointed Commissioner, Disaster Management . T. Radha. V. Nagi Reddy will now be Principal Secretary, Agriculture.A. Vidyasagar has been appointed as Principal Secretary, Tribal Welfare in the Social Welfare Department. Rajiv Sharma, Director-General and Executive Director, Centre for Good Governance, is posted as Principal Secretary, Panchayat Raj.

Railways transfers and postings
M. Ravinderanath Reddy of SAG/IRSE has been transferred from RWF as CE to SWR in the same capacity and posted in the cadre, Amit garg of SAG/IRSE has been on return from deputation transferred to RWF/Bangalore as CE, SD Pandey of SAG/IRSSE has been transferred from WCR to NER in the same capacity and posted in the cadre, RK Gupta of HAG/IRSE has been transferred from NR and posted as CAO/ C-II (He would also look after the duties of the post of PCE/NR until further orders), Deepak Kumar Kharha of JAG/IRAS has been transferred from RSC to ECR against an existing vacancy, Kumar Manvendra of SG/IRAS has been transferred from ECR to RSC, CS Chauhan of SAG/IRTS has been transferred from NCR and presently posted as CCM. He would be appointed in higher administrative grade on the Railway itself & posted as COM in HAH while UK Singh of SAG/IRTS has been transferred from NCR as COM and appointed in higher administrative grade on the Railway itself & posted as COM in HAH.

13 TN cadre IAS officers get super time scale
As many as 13 officers of 1995 batch of IAS of Tamil Nadu State Cadre are promoted have been promoted to Super Time Scale of IAS. They are M.A. Siddique - Private Secretary to Union Minister for Home Affairs, Mrs. R. Jaya- Director (BM -III) (GOI),Ministry of Home Affairs, Dr. P. Senthil Kumar - Commissioner of Municipal Administration, Mrs. Sandhya Venugopal Sharma - State Project Director, Sarvashiksha Abhiyan, Bengalaru, T. Udhyachandran - Commissioner of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Hitesh Kumar S. Makwana - Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, Dr. Santhosh Kumar Babu - Managing Director, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited, Dr. B. Chandra Mohan - Commissioner of Horticulture and Plantation Crops, K. Sellamuthu - Commissioner of Fisheries, D. Raajendiran - Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Public (Elections) Department, Dr. M. Veera Shanmugha Moni - Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, A. Mohammed Aslam - Director of Land Reforms and Dr. A. Chittaranjan Mohandoss - Commissioner of Tourism.

He wants to make a difference in Jharkhand
Effective governance with greater transparency using available technological tools to reach out to the poorest of poor in the State is the key initiative and thrust area on which the Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda is working on. Taking charge of the state plagued by political instability, the Red Terror and corruption, Munda has his task cut out. Brimming with confidence and a resolve to make a difference in Jharkhand, he is working out an action plan that will propel the state into the forefront in national mainstream in the long-run. Munda shared his thoughts about the state and the problems staring him, with our Editor and Country Head Sanjeev Majupuria and Editor Prakash Pillai in a free-wheeling interview recently.

The following are some of the excerpts of the interview-

Q: Jharkhand is today synonymous with political instability and corruption. What measures do you intend to take to remove this perception?

A: You are right. Today, nobody realizes that Jharkhand can turn out to be the mineral reserve of India and can soon be one of the leading states. It is known for all the wrong reasons. I do admit political instability is a key factor but people of the state are fast learning and as they showed in the Panchayat and local bodies elections hopefully they would not leave the state in a political mess in future. After taking over as the Chief Minister, I am concentrating on improving coordination with all political forces in the state.

As far as corruption is concerned, it stems out mostly from the mining contracts that were a lucrative business in Jharkhand along with government purchases. After due diligence, I have advised the state to use the Information Technology and go for e-bidding for all mining related activities and government purchases. This would lead to greater transparency. All our departments have been asked to follow the procedure. We have reinstated the Lokayukta and the State Human Rights Commission so that they can curb any excesses or misuse by the state.

Q: You talked about ICT, how are you using it for governance?

A: Well, you would be surprised to know that we have started an ultra modern data centre in Ranchi that houses government records. In the next six months all government data -be it relating to functioning, policy or revenue - would be available digitally. Price Water Coopers is our consultant for the project. Besides, to check pilferage and leakages in the Public Distribution system we are introducing Biometric scheme, whereby monitoring will become easy and effective at each stage. To improve efficiency we have converted the Panchayats as Panchayat Secretariat and about 4500 panchayats in the state are being linked to "Jharnet". This will help in quick disposal and effective implementation of policies, early redressal of grievances and coordinated planning.

Read the detailed interview in Jan 2011 issue of WHISPERS IN THE CORRIDORS, Magazine

C. Prabhakar's book autobiography My Life Struggle and Service launched
There is no lack of talent in India or rural India to be precise. It is only a matter of getting the right opportunity that makes a difference. This is evident from the autobiography of Cholleti Prabhakar, Secertary, Tourism, Government of Puducherry titled "My Life Struggle and Service". The book highlights how state sponsored welfare measures has helped Prabhakar, who hails from a remote village of Munugode in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, to get into the Indian Administrative Service. The book touches upon various issues including transfers and postings and various schemes of the Government and the key role IAS can play towards the welfare and development of the people. He writes that when we eradicate poverty, illiteracy, hunger and disease in rural India then only the slogan of "India Shines" would come true and India can become a true "superpower". Cholleti Prabhakar is an IAS of the 2000 batch who belongs to the AGMUT cadre. The book was released by Governor, Dr. Iqbal Singh at a function recently. It costs Rs 100.

Raman is President of SAFA
A. N. Raman, a Central Council Member of The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), functioning under the aegis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, has taken over as the President, South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), with effect from January, 2011. He was elected yesterday in the 72nd meeting of the General Assembly of SAFA held at Chennai. The meeting was attended by the representatives of eight of the nine Accounting Institutions from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Shri Raman was the Vice President of SAFA during last year. Shri Muhammad Rafi of Pakistan has been nominated as Vice President of the Federation for the year 2011.

Maharashtra Government recommends suspension of Tiwari
The Maharashtra Government has recommended suspension of the State Information Commissioner Ramanand Tiwari for his alleged role in the Adarsh Housing Society scam.

Anandan joins Google
Former MD of the Microsoft Rajan Anandan has joined search giant Google as the Vice President (Sales and Operations) and Head of India region.

RTI

Are Employee Associations covered under the definiton of Public Authority?

Information about the election for Executive Committee proposed to be conducted by All India SC/ST Railway Employees Association (AISCSTREA) was refused by the Zonal President, claiming that the Association is not a Public Authority. The Commission noted that AISCSTREA is indirectly controlled and substantially financed by the Railway Board, Ministry of Railways. The office premises have been granted by the Railways and substantial financing in the form of receipts under the head Central Share are received from the Railways. Even the letterhead of the Association clearly states that it owes it's recognition and registration to the Railway Board. The CIC observed that a regime of transparency is in the interest of the Association. The CIC declared the Association a Public Authority under the RTI Act 2005 and directed the General Secretary to appoint the CPIO in the organization and comply with the other provisions of the RTI Act.

Comments

There are thousands of organisations claiming to represent the interests of employees of the Public Authority out of which many receive grants from the government. Some of these unions appear to be accountable to no one. Will this order turn out to be a milestone for the transparent working of the associations ?

[Mr. Kumar Shrawan Bhivgade v. Western Railway and the All India SC/ST Railway Employees Association [CEC] in File No: CIC/AD/C/2009/001263]

- Weekly article by Dr. (Mrs.) Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in), RTI Consultant to IIM, Indore and Co-author of the book: RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE by Taxmann. (The views are Personal)

CORPORATE
Panjiar appointed Director, PTC India
Umesh Narayan Panjiar, IAS (Retd.) has been appointed as Independent Director of PTC India Ltd w.e.f. December 7, 2010. He has worked as Secretary to the overnment of India.

Air India to restore Dehradun-Delhi service
Air India will be restoring its normal operation (5 flts/week) on Delhi- Dehradun route from Jan 15, 2011 as follows: From DEL-DED Flight No - IC-463 will leave on 1,2,4,6, 7 Days. It will leave Delhi at 09. 35 hrs to reach Dehradun at 10.30 hrs. Similarly, DED-DEL Flight No - IC-464 will leave on 1,2,4,6, 7 days. It will leave Dehradun at 11.10 hrs to reach Delhi at 12.10 hrs.

Bajaj no longer ED Rama Newsprint
V.D. Bajaj has ceased to be Executive Director of Rama Newsprint and Papers Ltd w.e.f January 8, 2011.

Capt Suraj is DG
Capt A.M..Suraj has taken over as the Director-General of the Directorate-General of Lighthouses and Lightships. It comes under the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways.

Narayan appointed CFO, Virgin Blue
Virgin Blue, Australia's second-biggest airline has appointed Sankar Narayan as its Chief Financial Officer.

Khandelwal resigns as Company Secy. Gravita India
Ms Priyanka Khandelwal, has resigned from the post of Company Secretary and Compliance Officer of Gravita India Ltd w.e.f. December 31, 2010.

Modi appointed Compliance Officer, Gravita India
Ms. Sunita Modi, Assistant Company Secretary has been appointed as Compliance Officer of Gravita India Ltd w.e.f. January 1, 2011.

Chandran resigns as Director, Goldstone Tech.
Chandran, Independent Director, Goldstone Technologies Ltd has resigned from the company on personal grounds with effect from January 7, 2011.

Baldev Raj elected President of INAE
Baldev Raj, Director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam has been elected president of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).

Panjiar appointed Director, PTC India
Umesh Narayan Panjiar, IAS (Retd.) has been appointed as Independent Director of PTC India Ltd w.e.f. December 7, 2010. He has worked as Secretary to the overnment of India.

Radhakrishnan resigns as President, TME
Divya Radhakrishnan, President, TME, the media arm of Rediffusion, has resigned from the organisation.

FORUM
(The views expressed in this column are of the contributors. We do not owe any responsibility, whatsoever, of the views of our surfers as they are their personal opinion. However, we would also request our contributors not to be personal, directly or indirectly, in presenting their views. Instead of countering the views which ‘X’ has already expressed, our contributors are advised to present their own views. Also be brief, say about 200 words at the most since any views longer than that if eliminated at our end would carry the risk of the contrbutor’s item losing its original essence)

Pray, do not usurp rights of others !

W. Mishra's defence of CSS is a well written piece & on expected lines but it is an exercise of defending the indefensible. I will give live example of how CSS has completely suppressing & finish off an organization & it not allowing any promotion to take place by submitting negative notes in file. In Nirman Bhawan, the Director of Printing post is forcibly occupied by CSS official. The seniormost technical officer from printing press is denied opportunity deliberately to hold the post of Head of Department because CSS usurping the post. All this despite fact post of HoD is promotion post for technical officer but technical officer humiliation going on and even CSS post of Joint Director now upgraded to Additional Directors forcibly by misrepresenting fact in file, giving half baked information and made superior to Technical Officer who is senior. Most queer thing seniormost Technical Officer & CSS holding post of HoD taking same pay scale & salary. Have you seen such anarchy anywhere else? Technical Officer have no where to go. No one listening because file noting is always in favour of CSS. Who is responsible for all this chaos? It is the CSS who want all perks of this post & usurping post of other persons cadre forcibly. Why Ministry of Urban Development not saying anything? It is because of IAS Babu & CSS complicity. My apologies to Shri Mishra that I have to take specific example to prove my point. I can cite at least 20 cases of officials who have never been transferred from their Ministry despite being promoted several times. But I have to respect their privacy & cannot cite their names but it is DOPT job to carry out such check which it will never do because CS Division of DOPT manned by CSS & it take sides with its own. No one is prejudiced against CSS, we only pray & request CSS to confine itself to its own cadre posts in Ministry & not usurp other cadre posts. Is this asking for too much.

Dimpy Chopra

Pride and Prejudice

No, no I am not prejudiced against CSS Officers. I am only stating the truth. Someone has to point out that King is not wearing clothes. I do not know much about the survey conducted in which 80% of CSS officers have chosen to be posted in Central Ministerial Secretariat and State Secretariat on rotation, as mentioned by Mishra. This is indeed news to me. Are results of survey available in DOPT website or DAPRG ? Readers kindly enlighten me. Whether such Survey was limited to CSS cadre only, or whether IAS Babus response to service satisfaction offered by CSS to them also included, or what were points on which response called for etc etc. But yes, yes, definitely the survey has thrown up the desire for more power and to open up the option for CSS to be posted in the State Secretariats so that they can wield more power and the IAS Babu & CSS Babu link gets stronger. This is most dangerous situation & such contention is outrageous.

Please elaborate on the so called benefits that field Officers get. I have never come across any case where a Group-C official gets an Official vehicle. I hope & pray he is not alluding to the Beat constables getting motorcycles and the Beat Postman getting mopeds or the cashier of a Bank getting vehicle to deposit cash in the cash chest, or the Medical Attendant travelling in an Ambulance van. All these are Group-C employees and they have been provided facilities not for enjoyment but because of necessity. This is the crux of the problem the CSS Officials are constantly comparing with the essential facilities which are requirements of field offices. Moreover Babus hardly attend office & File work is last priority & are all the time roaming around & doing their private work during office time. The field officers have to show results & based on their hard work the Babus compile the information & submit file & take all credit. As regards Bio-Metric attendance system introduced in Ministries, I am sorry to say that it has become a failure. No one comes on time, even if they come they put flinger on machine, enter office & are out again, there is no system which will record how many time Babus go in & out & the duration spent outside office. If a full proof system is introduced in which every entry & exit of every person is recorded and monthly print out of attendance is provided to administration section which will tally whether leave application submitted for absence, on tour etc & get counter signed by next higher authority of officer & sent to Cash Section for drawing salary & making deductions for late attendance then these Babus will have a run for their money. At present the bio metric system is just a sham & not being implemented effectively. Merely recording attendance timing with no monitoring & taking no action against officials based on this information is futile exercise. It will make no difference if such practice is discontinued.

Lok Nath Mehra

God Save Country from these Bada & Chota Babus ruling the Ministries

Apropos W Mishra's letter appearing in WIC, the CSS Officers are very much misinformed about other field services. No wonder the then Defence Minister George Fernandes had to depute these CSS officers to Siachen to find out for themselves why the army required snow scooters. The troops need Battlefield Surveillance System, night vision devices (NVD) hand held thermal images, Automatic Grenade launchers etc which are all basic requirements just like these Babus require a pen stand, stapler pin holder etc. But the Babus raising ruckus & not submitting File if he not provided with table Glass & puts all his frustration in file if he has to share one room with another officer. He forgets that the jawan getting half his salary has not seen his wife & children & is involved in counter-insurgency operations & bearing brunt because political system has failed country & Babus deficient in service & an incompetent District Magistrate raises hand in despair & Army has to carry out flag March.

I fully agree one hundred times that the CSS Babus and IAS Babus sit comfortably in their cozy rooms enjoying all kinds of facilities & putting one hundred objections in files. They are very negative, have no accountability, do not have time frame for example it should be made compulsory that they decide a file maximum within 10 days and all objections must be listed out in one time and not every time file is submitted and they delay it. They do not face any panic, emergency situation where no time for preparation or even to think & quick action on the spot decision is required. These babus sit & discuss the pros & cons of on the spot decisions of man in the field taken in crises situation & submit negative note & suggest their own better option forgetting that in those trying circumstances & given the limitations the best decision was taken. Criticizing others is easy job. The procurement process for Defence Forces is so complicated that the article becomes outdated by the time it is purchased. The Babus question everything, technical specifications & also give suggestions they overrule the users routinely & blackmail every Defence Minister by selectively leaking to media & press if purchase not made from their favorite middleman. If their 2% cut is ensured these Babus set aside all objections & can compromise with the safety, unity & integrity of the country. Just see how cheap the sovereignty of the country has become in the hands of these Babus. They secretly smuggle out files, take photocopies & earn money by supplying to vested interests. Thanks to Ravi Inder Singh from Ministry of Home, these IAS Babus have given new meaning & vocabulary to usage of words like Software (woman) & Hardware (Money), pen drive (Drinks) etc. Only a dynamic Home Minister like P. Chidambaram and a bold Secretary like G.K Pillai had the guts to kick such errant officials out of Ministry & hand over to Police. But one sparrow does not make summer.

Brijesh Kumar Yadav

CSSS & CSS merger needed

The CSSS restructuring and merger of it with CSS as recommended by 6 CPC need to be done without any further loss of time, lest there is no way that the hugely sagging morale of the CSSS cadre members can be lifted. Hope someone in DOPT and Finance listen.

Ram

Delay in CSSS restructuring

The decision of CSSS restructuring is pending since October 2010 with GOI. Hope this delay will not affect the employees of CSSS service who are anxiously waiting for the decision of the CSSS restructuring. The employees belonging to feeder grade of CSSS of 1983 (Steno Grade 'D') batch are real sufferers and are entirely dependent on the decision of GOI in their favour so that they can also live in dignity. An early decision will be highly appreciated by all the feeder grade of CSSS. There should be a policy decision on calculating the eligibility of the officers particularly those who once promoted on ad-hoc are not promoted later when their eligibility is viewed on the basis of the ACRs for the period when their eligibility is counted from the year of select list. Rather their eligibility should be viewed on the basis of ACRs from the day they become eligible as they are not at fault because of acute shortage of number of vacancies otherwise they would have been regularised from the day they become eligible after completion of eligibility service. Moreover, when average grading in the ACRs is given and the same is not communicated should not be taken into consideration while considering their suitability/eligibility and the same should be ignored being uncommunicated ACRs in view of the Judgments Of Supreme Court on the subject. This is causing lot of embarrassment to the eligible officers who are waiting regular promotion after putting in more than 27 years of regular service in the feeder grade and more than 17 years ad-hoc service in Grade 'C'. This issue needs urgent consideration and suitable action be taken in the matter.

Luthra

Ensure diligence in displaying comments

The administrator of this site must ensure extra diligence in displaying comments of viewers selectively. I know the comments of viewers are scrutinised first by the administrator but unfortunately the unparliamentary word "concubines" used by Shashi Bhushan has been crept in the comments.

MVKR

Quality of Forum declining !

What has happened to your website, of late? The quality of comments in the forum column is falling fast. Please arrest it before your website loses its credibility. You don't seem to edit the comments before posting. Who is this M L Gupta writing about absurd things, totally unconnected with the bureaucracy? You are supposed to inform the browsers and not tell meaningless stories. If you have nothing to post, then don't include the forum column.I t is getting really boring.

An IAS officer (Name withheld)

Right choice

Narresh Chandra = Well thought out decision; right person for the right job with right experience.

Dr Sudhir K Jain